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OFFEE Growing 



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INVESTMENT 



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Copyright isyt;, by 
H. W. Bennktt, 



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Mexican Gulf Agricultural 



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Incorporated Under the Laws of Missouri. 



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CAPITAL, $100,000 PAID. 



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Kansas City, Mo. : 

Lawton & BuRNAP, Modern Stationers and Printers. 

1896. 



OFRCERS. 

H. W. Bennett, Presidtnt. D. J. Haff, Vice-President. 

R. E. Shryock, Secretary and Treasurer . 



DIRECTORS. 

H. W. Bennett. R. E- Shryock. E. F, Svvinney. D. J. Haff. 

E. VV. Woodcock. J. Q. Watkins, Jr. W. A. Lawton. 



ADVISORY BOARD. 

C. E. Moss. C. D. Parkkr. Louis Kunz. H. F. Hall. 



Home Office: 

100 and 101 New England Building-, 

Kansas City, Mo. 



April, 1896. 



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SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THI 

ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTE 

AND THE LANDS OF THE 

Mexican Gulf Agricultural 

. . . OF . . . 

KANSAS CITY, MO., U. S. A. 



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INTRODUCTION. 

« « « « 

^*^HE organizers of the Mexican Gulf Agricultural Com- 
Cj. pany were first attracted toward Mexico as a field for 
^^ investment, some four years ago, by the prominence 
that Republic had attained in the financial circles of the 
world, the large fortunes being made there, and the constantly 
decreasing returns from home investments. While it has 
always been known and never denied that Mexico was a coun- 
try of vast resources and offering wonderful inducements to 
Anglo-Saxon enterprise and capital, yet prior to 1888 the 
investments in that Republic were comparatively small and 
the progress' slow, owing to a lack of confidence in the sta- 
bility of the govei-nment, on account of the constantly recur- 
ring revolutions and other political troubles to which the 
country had been formerly subjected. 

This condition of things is now entirely changed, how- 
ever, and there is no doubt but that the government of Mexico 
is on a solid and stable basis and will so continue, and that the 
time is now ripe for capital and immigration. Within the last 
few years Mexico has made remarkable progress. She is in 
good condition financially and socially. Over eight thousand 
miles of railroad have been built : her harbors have been im- 
proved ; telegraph lines connect every part of the Republic, 
and the country is in close communication with all parts of 
the world. Her mineral, agricultural and industrial resources 
are being developed very rapidly, and a strong, liberal gov- 
ernment offers every encouragement and protection to life and 
property. 

Capital invested with prudence in Mexico must necessa- 
rily yield splendid returns, superior by far to what may be 
expected from any other country at the present time in the 



same ratio, for the simple reason that any new country with 
small competition, undeveloped resources and lack of capital 
offers to the enterprising pioneer great advantages over the 
limited chances of profit in old and thoroughly developed dis- 
tricts, where capital abounds and competition is keen, and in 
which the profits of both industry and capital are reduced to 
a minimum. 

The greatest richer of any country are derived from its 
agricultural development, and toward this field we directed 
our particular attention. We gave the subject of coffee cult- 
ure in particular the most thorough and complete study and 
exhaustive research, and sent capable men down there and 
went ourselves for the express purpose of investigating trop- 
ical products. We were not wedded to any locality, our only 
desire being to locate in the best territory we could find suit- 
able for our purposes, keeping always in mind four principal 
considerations to guide us in our investigations. First, cli- 
matic conditions ; second, transportation facilities ; third, cost 
and supply of labor ; fourth, fertility of the soil. 

A great deal of time and money was spent before lands 
satisfactorily answering these requirements and possessing 
good title could be found ; but being finally secured we started 
in on our new enterprise, which, after two years of practical 
experience, we find no reasons to regret. 



^di 



DRIGIN OF THE 

The original purpose with which the organizers of this 
Comany set out to investigate the possibilities of tropical agri- 
culture, was in the nature of a personal search for a good 
investment, and to ascertain if the growing of coffee in Mexico 
was a business safe and profitable enough to warrant the plac- 
ing of our money in a foreign country, and in an enterprise 
from which no material returns could be expected before five 
years. 

Having found the investment a most attractive one, pos- 
sessing to a wonderful degree the elements of security and profit, 
we went into the business on a large scale and as a close cor- 
poration, with no other idea than that of developing and main- 
taining the property with our own funds and for our own 
exclusive benefit. 

The proposition offered the public was subsequently 
embraced in our plan of operation, merely as a means of reduc- 
ing the cost and expense of maintaining our own plantation, 
made possible by the recent demands for Mexican coffee lands* 
brought about as a result of the splendid exhibit of Mexico at 
the World's Fair and the strong efforts put forth by the Mexi- 
can Government to advertise the agricultural lands of that 
country. 

People who five years ago knew nothing of how or where 
coffee was produced are now familiar with the methods and 
sources of its production, and the large jjrofits to be derived 
from its cultivation. They are also aware of the fact that capi- 
tal, experience, and five years' time are required to bring a 
plantation into bearing, putting the business out of the reach 
of a large majority of those most anxious to go into it. 

People of limited means cannot put their entire time and 
capital into an enterprise which yields no income for five years, 



and to the man of means the life of a pioneer in a foreign 
country is not attractive. 

In other words, we found there existed a growing demand 
for small coffee plantations, to be paid for on the installment 
plan, and that we were in a position to supply this demand to 
a limited extent, with advantage and profit to the purchaser 
as well as to ourselves. 

After mature consideration we decided to buy more lands 
and make this a feature of our business, for the following 
reasons : 

FiKST. — Because it did not in any way interfere with the 
carrying out of our original ideas. 

Second.— Because, without materially increasing the cost 
or lessening the efficiency of our management, we can properly 
care for these other properties and thereby reduce the exjjense 
of maintaining our own. 

Third. — Because it enables us to contract at a smaller cost 
a larger amount of labor. 

Fourth. — Because, by going into the business on so large a 
scale, we can afford to put a steamboat on the river, reducing 
the cost of our supplies and facilitating the marketing of our 
products. 

Fifth. — Because it will enable us to get a better price for 
our coffee ; the larger the production in any particular dis- 
trict, the more numerous the buyers, who, as direct repre 
sentatives of big importers in New York, Liverpool and Ham- 
burg, are brought together at our very doors in keen competi- 
tion. 

Sixth. — Because the cost of hulling, cleaning and milling 
our own crop can be reduced by utilizing our plant to handle 
the output of other properties. 

Seventh. — Because the Company can make a large and 
legitimate profit out of the transaction. 

Thus it can readily be seen that we derive many direct 
and indirect advantages, and can at the same time give the 

. . 6 . . 



investor a better plantation at less cost than he could possi- 
bly secure in any other manner. 

We state the above facts in order that our position may 
be clearly understood and the proposition we offer not looked 
upon as an experiment for which the public are asked to fur- 
nish the funds. 

We believe any sound reasoning person can readily see the 
mutual advantages to all parties concerned and that the in- 
terests of the Company and its investors are identical. 

PERSONNEL. 

Taking it for granted that the growing of coffee is a safe 
and profitable business, and that our proposition affords a 
feasible and desirable means of securing a plantation, the 
question naturally arises in the mind of the prospective buyer, 
" Who are these people offering this investment? To what ex- 
tent can we rely on their representations? And what assur- 
ance have we that our money will be honestly and judiciously 
expended?"' 

The financial standing and resources of the Company, as 
well as the ability and integrity of its officers, can be ascer- 
tained through private inquiry, or by means of Dun's and 
Bradstreet's Mercantile Agencies ; also by inquiry of the 
First National, Union National and Metropolitan National 
Banks of Kansas City, Mo.; the American Loan it Trust Com- 
pany, of Boston, Mass., or United States Consul-General 
to Mexico, Hon. T. T. Crittenden, of the City of Mexico — to 
any of whom we refer by permission. 

The personnel of the officers and directors of the Company 
is here given as a guarantee of honest and capable manage- 
ment. 

Mr. H. W. Bennett, president, is manager in this city of 
the Woolson Spice Company, one of the largest dealers and 
importers of coffee in the United States, selling over fifty mil- 
lion pounds every year. Mr. Bennett has been in this business 



for ten years, and devoted a great deal of time and attention 
to the careful study of coffee culture. He has an exhaustive 
correspondence from every part of the world upon the subject 
and has satisfied himself thoroughly that coffee culture in 
Mexico is a sound investment and that nowhere could Itinds be 
found better adapted to this purpose than those selected by 
the Company, which he personally inspected. 

Mr, D. J. Hafp, vice-president, is the senior member of 
the firm of Haff & VanValkenburgh, prominent attorneys of 
Kansas City. He has devoted much thought and study to the 
social and financial conditions of Mexico, and made a special 
trip to that country in connection with this enterprise. 

Mr. R. E. Shryock, secretary and treasurer of the Com- 
pany, is the head of the real estate and loan firm of R. E. 
Shryock & Company, Kansas City, and has personally inspected 
our property. 

Mr. E. F. SwiNNEY is cashier of the First National Bank 
of Kansas City, is well known as one of the most prominent 
and conservative bankers in the state and has just returned 
from a trip to Mexico. 

Mr. C. D. Parker is the head of the real estate and insur- 
ance firm of Parker, Durfee &: Co. ; president of the United 
States Water and Steam Supply Company, and a director of 
the Mechanics" Bank of Kansas City. 

Mr. William A. Lawton is senior partner in the firm 
of Lawton & Burnap, one of the largest printing and 
stationery establishments in Kansas City. Mr. Lawton 
purchased for himself a coffee plantation some three years 
ago, has made three trips to the Isthmus and spent over six 
months vipon and in the immediate vicinity of the lands of this 
company, personally investigating their fertility and products. 

Mr. John Q. Watkins, Jr., is well known as one of the 
most energetic and progressive of the younger element of 
Kansas City's business men and bankers. 

Mr. E. W. Woodcock, of Chicago, is agent in that city of 



the West Shore Past Freight Line. He has owned a planta- 
tion on the Isthmus for three years, and has made several 
trips to that country. 

Mr. C E. Moss is a retired capitalist and a director of the 
Metropolitan National Bank of Kansas City. 

Mr. Louis Kunz is a young man well and favorably known 
in Kansas City, who has spent the past three yenrs upon the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where he has met with noted success 
and is looked upon as an able and reliable authority on coffee 
culture. 

Mr. H. F. Hall is senior partner of the well known grain 
exporting firm of Hall & Robinson, Kansas City. 



^^ 



WHAT WE HAVE 
DONE. J- J> J- J- J- 

Since starting in this business, two years ago, we have 
proven by the results of practical experience that our judg- 
ment was good. The soil, climate and labor have been tested 
and in no respect found wanting. Over four millions of strong, 
healthy coffee trees and thousands of rubber, pineapple and 
banana plants, all in perfect condition, are now growing on our 
land, proving successful management and demonstrating be- 
yond a doubt that the soil and climate of this district are per- 
fectly adapted to the successful cultivation of these products, 
particularly cotfee. Corn, rice, fruit and nearly all kinds of 
vegetables have also been raised with remarkable success, and 
we have learned that there is nothing to be feared in the way 
of frost, extreme heat, drought or strong winds, nor is there 
any disease, insect or animal to injure our products. We have 
accomplished more work, with better results and at less cost, 
than our previous calculations had led us to expect. 

For the reasons enumerated in the first part of this 
pamphlet, we decided, a year ago, to undertake the develop- 
ment and care of a number of smaller plantations, and in the 
spring of 1895 placed ou the market and quickly sold four 
thousand acres of our land on this plan. Our experience in 
the development and care of these properties during the past 
year has demonstrated the advantages and feasibility of this 
feature of our business, and that the results are satisfactory 
to our investors is evidenced by the letters and reports of all 
those who have visited their properties, some of which are 
published, with the winters' permission, in the back part of 
this pamphlet. 

We have shown our ability to do this work in the best and 

cheapest manner possible, by the fact that we are now caring 

for plantations in our own vicinity, whose owners are actual 

residents on the land. 

. . 10 . . 



In the eighth year this income will be increased $4,000 by 
the product of the 4,000 rubber trees alone, not to mention the 
large increased income from the additional improvements 
the owner will naturally make from the sixth to the eighth 
years, inclusive. 

At the present time the lowest cash value of a plantation, 
such as the above, is $25,000 (gold), and could be readily sold 
at that price, and this for a eo.s7i outlay on the part of the 
purchaser of only $3,000, extended over a period of five years. 

Each tract of 50 and 25 acres will have respectively one-half 
and one-fourth of the amount of improvement on a tract of 
100 acres, with the exception that there will be no house on 
the tracts of 25 acres. The cost and income are proportionately 
the same. 

Prom the fact that there will be considerable vacant land 
upon all of these tracts, the income can be largely increased 
by planting additional coffee, rubber or fruit, or whatever the 
planter may deem most profitable. 

After the fifth year the company will care for the property, 
harvest and market the crop for ten per cent of the profits, in 
case the owner does not care to give it his personal attention. 

Again we repeat that the above estimates as to the income 
from these tracts is in every way a conservative one. While 
we have figured on a yield of three pounds of coffee from each 
tree, we confidently expect five pounds or more, for the reason 
that they will receive from the vei"y start the best of care and 
be given every advantage in the way of proper soil and high 
cultivation, such as weeding, shading, pruning, topping and 
other important and essential features. It must be borne in 
mind that you are not getting an ordinary Mexican coffee 
plantation, but one laid out and cared for from the start in the 
best possible manner by men who have had years of experi- 
ence in this business. 

The present price of the grade of coffee produced by these 
lands is to-day in New York 20^4 cents per pound, yet we have 



WHAT WE HAVE 
DONE. ^ J- J- ^ J- 

Since starting in this business, two years ago, we have 
proven by the results of practical experience that our judg- 
ment was good. The soil, climate and labor have been tested 
and in no respect found wanting. Over four millions of strong, 
healthy coffee trees and thousands of rubber, pineapple and 
banana plants, all in perfect condition, are now growing on our 
land, proving successful management and demonstrating be- 
yond a doubt that the soil and climate of this district are per- 
fectly adapted to the successful cultivation of these products, 
particularly cotfee. Corn, rice, fruit and nearly all kinds of 
vegetables have also been raised with remarkable success, and 
we have learned that there is nothing to be feared in the way 
of frost, extreme heat, drought or strong winds, nor is there 
any disease, insect or animal to injure our products. We have 
accomplished more work, with better results and at less cost, 
than our previous calculations had led us to expect. 

For the reasons enumerated in the first part of this 
pamphlet, we decided, a year ago, to undertake the develop- 
ment and care of a number of smaller plantations, and in the 
spring of 1895 placed on the market and quickly sold four 
thousand acres of our land on this plan. Our experience in 
the development and care of these properties during the past 
year has demonstrated the advantages and feasibility of this 
feature of our business, and that the results are satisfactory 
to our investors is evidenced by the letters and reports of all 
those who have visited their properties, some of which are 
published, with the writers' permission, in the back part of 
this pamphlet. 

We have shown our ability to do this work in the best and 

cheapest manner possible, by the fact that we are now caring 

for plantations in our own vicinity, whose owners are actual 

residents on the land. 

. . 10 . . 



In the eighth year this income will be increased $4,000 by 
the product of the 4,000 rubber trees alone, not to mention the 
large increased income from the additional improvements 
the owner will naturally make from the sixth to the eighth 
years, inclusive. 

At the present time the lowest cash value of a plantation, 
such as the above, is $25,900 (gold), and could be readily sold 
at that price, and this for a ca^h outlay on the part of the 
purchaser of only $3,000, extended over a period of five years. 

Each tract of 50 and 25 acres will have respectively one-half 
and one-fourth of the amount of improvement on a tract of 
100 acres, with the exception that there will be no house on 
the tracts of 25 acres. The cost and income are proportionately 
the same. 

From the fact that there will be considerable vacant land 
upon all of these tracts, the income can be largely increased 
by planting additional coffee, rubber or fruit, or whatever the 
planter may deem most profitable. 

After the fifth year the company will care for the property, 
harvest and market the crop for ten per cent of the profits, in 
case the owner does not care to give it his personal attention. 

Again we repeat that the above estimates as to the income 
from these tracts is in every loay a conservative one. While 
we have figured on a yield of three pounds of coffee from each 
tree, we confidently expect five pounds or more, for the reason 
that they will receive from the very start the best of care and 
be given every advantage in the way of proper soil and high 
cultivation, such as weeding, shading, pruning, topping and 
other important and essential features. It must be borne in 
mind that you are not getting an ordinary Mexican coffee 
plantation, but one laid out and cared for from the start in the 
best possible manner by men who have had years of experi- 
ence in this business. 

The present price of the grade of coffee produced by these 
lands is to-day in New York 20'^4 cents per pound, yet we have 



figured upon a basis of but sixteen cents, leaving a margin of 
nearly five cents to cover any possible decline in prices. 
The cost of production and marketing will without doubt be 
less than five cents per pound, as calculated in the estimate. 

The yield from the rubber trees is only one-half the 
amount usually counted upon, and owing to the constantly in- 
creasing demand and consuinption, the price of this article is 
correspondingly ad vaneing. 

The banana planters of Honduras and Nicaragua last year 
averaged a net profit of thirty-six cents (gold) on each bunch 
of bananas sold, and we have every advantage over that coun- 
try in the way of quick and cheap transportation, with a 
quality of fruit in every way equal, if not superior. The 
planters of Florida last year realized an average net profit of 
four and a quarter cents each from their pineapples. Consid- 
ering the fact that the "Verde-Madura" pineapple grown on 
the Isthmus is the finest known in the world, averaging seven 
pounds in weight, with a small core and no fibre, and that they 
will come into market in the United States two months earlier 
than the Florida product, we feel that we are fully justified in 
expecting a net profit from them of five cents each. 

One very attractive featvire connected with these tracts is 
the fact that they will be all together and lying immediately 
around the town of " Dos Rios ," which, like the plantations 
themselves, will be chiefly populated by Americans, giving the 
settler who goes down there at the end of five years every 
advantage in the way of the society and language of his own 
countrymen. Besides, as above stated, the Company will, as 
soon as the coffee plantations commence to bear, put up a 
large plant fully equipped with the latest and most modern 
machinery for pulping, curing, cleaning and sizing, thereby 
enabling the surrounding planters to get this work done at 
the least possible cost and avoid the expenditure of from eight 
hundred to two thousand dollars for coffee machinery, which 
the isolated settler is compelled to buy for his own plantation. 



The good faith of the Company, and our confidence in the 
ability of the tracts to realize the income figured upon, is 
evinced by the agreement to accept the products of the land 
in payment of the mortgage, and the fact that we give a bond 
for the faithful performance and carrying out of our contracts. 

WHY? 

After reading our pamphlet thus far, you will probably 
ask : Why ? If this is such a wonderful country and so much 
money can be made there —WJiy, then, does not all the world 
rush into the production of coffee on the Isthmvis of Tehuan- 
tepec ? Why ? Foi^ the very same reason that you yourself 
have not done so. Either it has not been called to your atten- 
tion, or you would prefer to make less money and live in the 
United States, or you have not the necessary capital to wait 
five years for a return and support yourself meanwhile. 

But if you could secure some of the immense profits that 
coffee culture on the Isthmus is bound to yield, and could con- 
tinue to live in the United States while the plantation was 
being cared for and brought into a perfect bearing condition : 
when you could then migrate to the land of the Aztecs and 
there enjoy the e-asy life and munificent income of a coffee 
planter; if you could do this without being compelled imme- 
diately to invest the large amount of ready cash required to 
accomplish these results, but instead could pay for it gradu- 
ally out of your income and at the same time avoid the great 
risk taken by the inexperienred planter, the isolation from 
society, and the toil and jjrivation incident to the life of a pio- 
neer, what then ? 

The Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company is prepared to 
make all this possible for you, and on the most reasonable 
terms. 

As to the security of money invested in coffee culture in 
Mexico, and the profit to be derived therefrom, we give you in 



the following pages, in a condensed form, the result of our own 
inquiry and investigations,extending over a period of four years; 
also a number of letters and reports covering the subject in 
a general way and bearing directly on the merits of our propo- 
sition. 



^S: 



lE XICO AS A COFF EE 
ROWING COUNTRY, 

There is no field in the world at the present time that 
offers such opportunities for the safe and profitable invest- 
ment of capital as that of the heretofore neglected one of 
coffee cultivation in the Republic of Mexico. Throughout 
the civilized world there is at the present time a rapid and 
constant increase in the consumption of coffee, six hundred 
million pounds being consumed last year in the United States 
alone ; and, although there has been a very marked increase 
in the production of this now necessary article of diet, yet 
the supply hardly keeps jmce with the demand. 

Coffee can only be successfully grown on virgin forest 
laud, and the territory possessing the proper reqviirements 
for its cultivation is limited and rapidly becoming more so. 
The supply received from Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and other 
old districts is constantly decreasing, owing to the death of 
the plantations from natural causes and over-worked and 
worn out soils. 

These are some of the principal reasons why Mexico is des- 
tined to become one of the greatest coffee prodvicing countries 
in the world, as she possesses every feature essential to the 
successful cultivation of this product at the lowest cost and 
with the greatest profit. 

The coffee lands of Mexico are only inferior to those of 
Brazil in extent, being far superior in the variety and quality 
of their product, and only remain idle and unimproved from 
lack of enterprise and capital for proper development. The 
topographical and climatic conditions of the coffee district of 
the lower part of the state of Vera Cruz are especially adapted 
to the production of varieties and grades of coffee as large in 
size, as bold in style and as rich in flavor as nine-tenths of that 
produced in the old and celebrated coffee countries of the 



world ; and the adaptability and capacity of these lands for its 
production have been thoroughly tested by more than fifty 
years of experience in its cultivation, while experience has 
fully demonstrated the quality of the product as well as the 
profit to the planter. 



ipdi 



[S TH ERE A PROFIT IN RAISING 
^^XICAN COFFEE > ^ J- ^ J- ^ ^ 

The average price during the past twenty years for Bra- 
zilian coffees has been over fourteen cents per pound, to which 
must be added from three to six cents, as the relative value of 
Mexican coffees, making the average price of Mexican coffee 
for the last ticenty years between seventeen and tiventy cents 
per pound. 

It looks as if there should be a profit when we can grow it 
and put it in New York at from ten to thirteen cents less than 
loe get for it per pound. The present pi'ice of medium high 
grade Mexican is, in New York, twenty cents per pound, 
which, upon a high estimate of cost of six cents, leaves to the 
planter a profit of fourteen cents per pound, or nearly three 
hundi'ed per cent profit above the cost of production, as can 
be shown by actual experience and from reports by the high- 
est of authority on this question. This certainly shows that 
coffee culture is profitable, and especially so in Mexico. 

Wliat is the ivorst that could happen? 

Suppose in any one year that the price of Mexican coffee 
should fall from twenty cents to ten cents per pound, and sup- 
pose that same year the yield should fall from three pounds 
per tree to one pound per tree ! There would still he 20 per cent 
more profit to the planter in raising coffee than he could real- 
ize from any agricultural pursuit in this country. 

Variovis troubles, civil and international, in Brazil and 
Central America, have had the effect of curtailing production 
in those countries, the result of which, unquestionably, will be 
felt for many years. Fifty years ago, one hundred and fifty 
thousand tons of coffee were deemed ample to supply Europe 
and America combined, but in 1848 these two continents con- 
sumed two hundred and fifty thousand tons : in 1868, three 
hundred and seventy-five thousand tons, and in 189.3, over 



seven hundred thousand tons-~more than double that of fifty 
years before. The woi-kVs consumption of coffee is now nearly 
nine hundred thousand tons, or one billion eight hundred 
million jwunds i^er annum, and constantly increasing The 
consumption in this country now being estimated at between 
eight and one half and nine pounds per capita, while in Hol- 
land and some of the northern provinces of Europe the con- 
sumption is as high as twenty-two pounds per capita. When 
we take into consideration the fact that for every acre of new 
coffee being brovight under development, old fields are going 
out of bearing through the natural exhaustion of the soil, it 
can readily be seen that there is no danger of lowering the 
price by over-production. 






ADVANTAGES OF 
THE ISTHMUS^^.^ 

One of the highest authorities on coffee culture says : 
" The principal points which determine the value of a location 
for the successful and protitable cultivation of coffee are cli- 
mate, soil, labor and transportation facilities. A temperate 
climate, within the tropics, is to be preferred at all times, a 
certain degree of warmth and humidity combined being essen- 
tial ; one having a mean temperatvire of seventy to eighty 
degrees Fahrenheit, and not falling below fifty-five at any 
time. Frost, even though it be at night and for a short period, 
is fatal, and a drouth would be the cause of a most serious in- 
jury to the plantation. A constant and uniform moisture, 
either natural or artificial, together with a rainfall of from 
seventy-five to one hundred and fifty inches per annum, well 
distributed, are requisite and indispensable to the free devel- 
opment of the trees. A rich, dark soil, friable and containing 
plenty of potash, is the best. The richer and deeper the soil the 
larger the yield and the longer the trees will continue to bear. 
Virgin forest lard is the most suitable for coffee plantations, 
having become naturally enriched by decaying vegetable mat- 
ter. Flat lands holding water are fatal to profitable coffee 
growing, while extremely steep slopes are objectionable on 
account of the wash occasioned by rains carrying away the 
soil and exposing the roots of the shrubs. " 

All of these requirements are complied with upon the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec to a fuller extent than in any other 
portion of this hemisphere. Our climate is a mild and even 
one, with an average temperature of seventy-nine degrees 
Fahrenheit, never falling below sixty degrees, with frost and 
drouth entirely unknown. We have an annual rainfall of one 
hundred and thirteen inches, evenly distributed throughovit 
the season, which, with the heavy dews falling at night during 



the dry season, renders irrigation entirely unnecessary. Our soil 
is a rich, dark earth and friable, containing a large amount of 
potash. It is all virgin forest land that has become enriched 
by decayed vegetable matter for hundreds and thousands of 
years. The land is neither flat nor rough, but a gently slop- 
ing mass of small and evenly rounded hills. Thus we have 
every reqviirement in the way of soil and climate, with an 
abundant supply of good and relial)le labor at an extremely 
small cost, and the finest of transportation fjicilities. 

For these reasons we say that the Chalchijapa Valley is 
the best country in the Western hemisphere, and equal to any 
in the world, for coffee culture. With high cultivation, the 
soil will yield enormously a medium grade of coffee, which is 
considered by experts the most profitable grown, having at all 
times a ready sale among the mass of coffee drinkers. The high 
grade of Isthmus coffee, as compared with that of other low alti- 
tudes, is due to the superiority of our climate : the distance from 
ocean to ocean being only a little over one hundred miles, and 
the strong, cool sea breezes blowing more than half the day. give 
an even, temperate climate, the same as that possessed in alti- 
tudes from two thousand to four thousand feet above sea 
level. 

Another thing that will appeal strongly to the mind of ;i 
conservative investor is the fact that these lands are equally 
well adapted to the culture of rubber, cacao, nutmegs and 
other spices, sugar, tobacco and all kinds of tropical fruits. 
The most profitable of these products require from six to eight 
years before bearing, but after that time call for very little 
care, and the profits therefrom are so enormously large as to 
appear almost incredible to any one not familiar with tropical 
agricultvire. 

Thus the planter upon the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has 
over a dozen different ways in which to vitilize his land. It is 
well to know that the planter can at all times be absolutely 
independent of any one crop, with the advantage of having at 



all times constant employment for his labor, the lack of which 
is the most serious drawback to coffee culture in Guatemala 
and other one crop countries, where the demand for labor 
during the coffee picking season greatly exceeds the available 
supply. In high altitudes these advantages do not exist, as 
the soil and climate will not permit, and the proper facilities 
for cheap and quick transportation are wanting; and while 
these higher altitudes possibly produce a grade of coffee which 
may be a little finer in flavor and commanding a slight ad^ 
vance in price, yet we claim, what is lost in quality tve gain 
foiir or jive fold in quantity, to which all authorities will 
agree. 

These are some of the reasons why the Isthmus of 
Tehuantepec is going to be, not only the greatest coffee grow- 
ing disti'ict of Mexico, but a dangerous rival of California, 
Florida and Central America in the production of fruits; and 
will be known as the most prosperous, progressive and readily 
accessible semi-tropical country in the world. 

On account of the climate being one in every way agree- 
able to the Anglo-Saxon, this country is going to be populated 
to a large extent Ijy our own countrymen. In fact, nearly all 
of the best land is now controlled by American capital, and 
large portions of it being placed under cultivation. Within 
the past twenty-four months an aggregate of over a million 
dollars has been invested in lands in our vicinity, and a large 
number of plantations are well under way. Kansas City 
parties alone are the owners of twenty-one three year old 
plantations, of from one hundred to three hundred acres each, 
all located within a radius of fifteen miles of the property of 
this company. 



LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION 
OF OUR LAND, J- J^ J^ ^ ^ J- J' 

In the lower part of the Republic of Mexico, between the 
sixteenth and eighteenth degrees of latitude and the ninety- 
third and ninety-fifth degrees of longitude, with the Gulf of 
Mexico on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the south, lies a 
little strip of land called the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The ter- 
ritory comprising this district proper is only forty miles wide 
and one hundred and forty-two miles across, and within the 
northern slope of this limited area lies the Nile valley of 
America. In no part of Mexico, or perhaps in the whole 
world, are lands so deep and fertile, with so pleasant and 
healthful a climate. It is well drained by flowing rivers, 
broad and deep, whose waters are as clear and sparkling as 
mountain streams, and wholly free from alkali or other min- 
eral substances. Prom the lower lands of the coast, the coun- 
try stretches back in beautiful, undulating hills to the ele- 
vated table lands of the interior, and as far as one can see are 
magnificent areas of rich agricultural lands clothed with 
forests and plants in i)erpetual green. These forests abound 
in game, and the rivers swarm with fish. Yet, until the last 
few years, this country was, like many other parts of Mexico, 
comparatively unknown and undeveloped. In the heart of the 
very best portion of this small territory, so blessed Vjy nature 
and neglected by man, are the lands of the Mexican Gulf 
Agricultural Company, located at the junction of the Coatza- 
coalcos and Chalchijapa rivers, fourteen miles from the 
Tehuantepec Railway and fifty miles from the Gulf port of 
Coatzacoalcos, both reached by navigable rivers. 



FERTILITY OF THE SO IL 
AND ITS PR O DUCTS«^.^ 

Lands in the central portion of the Isthmus, north of the 
divide, are remarkable for the great depth and marvelous fer- 
tility of the soil. Dense tropical forests have been growing, 
falling and decaying for hundreds and thousands of years, and 
in consequence we have a soil that cannot be excelled, if dvipli- 
cated, in any part of the world. At no place on our land is 
the soil, which is of a rich, dark loam, less than six, and in the 
larger portion of it between sixteen and twenty feet in depth. 
The rainy seasons can always be relied upon with great regu- 
larity, which, with the numerous rivei's and their tributaries, 
and heavy dews in the dry season, furnish an abundance of 
moisture. This, in connection with the hot, tropical sun dur- 
ing the day, serves to bring forth the wonderful resources and 
fertility of the soil in a truly remarkable and almost incredible 
manner. 

Over twenty different products can be grown upon this 
land with great profit. Among these are rubber, pineapples, 
bananas, cacao, vanilla, sugar cane, tobacco and corn. Some 
of the above products, however, require considerable time and 
attention before producing. Rubber bears its first crop in 
eight years ; cacao in live ; and a banana plantation is 
profitable after the first year. The chief product of this 
country is, and will be, the one with which we have to deal 
principally, viz.: Cotfee. That coffee can be grown with great 
success upon the Isthmus is beyond doubt, as we have the 
necessary temperature, rainfall, depth and quality of soil. 
Many parts of Mexico are well suited to the culture of coffee, 
and we do not pretend to claim that we have the only soil and 
the only climate adapted to that jjurpose ; but we do claim 
that in no part of Mexico or the whole world can land be found 
so perfectly adapted in every way to coffee culture, and at the 
same tiine possessing equal advantages in the way of cheap 
labor and transportation facilities. 



HEALTH AND 
CLIMATE> J- ^ 

It might be inferred, the lands being within the tropics, 
that the climate is excessively hot, insalubrious and ex- 
ceedingly tropical in character, but the reverse of this is the 
case, and for many obvious reasons, notably the peculiar con- 
figuration on the Pacific coast side, which forms, as it were, a 
gate, walled on both sides by heavy masses of snow-capped 
mountains of the Sierra Madre range, through which pass 
currents of air, rendering the country they traverse perfectly 
salubrious. Our land is directly in the course of these 
breezes, making the climate everything that could be desired. 
While it is hot in the sun it is always cool in the shade. The 
nights are cool and bracing, and a blanket is necessary for 
comfort. During the year 1895 the average temperature was 
seventy-nine degrees, highest ninety-two degrees, lowest sixty 
degrees. From June until August there are light rains ; from 
August until December, very heavy rains ; December to Feb- 
ruary, light showers ; February to June, warm, pleasant 
weather with southerly winds. The rainfall for 1895 was one 
hundred and fifteen inches, seventy-five per cent of which fell 
in the night. The climate here, considering all seasons, is 
about perfect, and one which should prove very attractive to 
the settlers from the North, who appreciate the waste of life 
in an arctic climate of seven months each year, when all vege- 
tation ceases to grow and man himself can be kept alive only 
by artificial heat, and tho farmer must toil wearily four 
months in the blazing, scorching sun for the vmcertain crop 
that is to sustain him during all the famine months. 

The whole plain of the Coatzacoalcos river is a remark- 
ably healthy country, and one to which an Anglo-Saxon can 
readily adapt himself. 

The government statistics for the year 1893 show that in 



Minatitlan (situated on the Coatzacoalcos river, thirtj' miles 
from our land) there is a population of four thousand eight 
hundred and seventy-two souls, and during the year the 
deaths numbered forty-three, or an average death rate of 8.7 
per thousand. No better proof could be offered to show the 
healthfulness of this district. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Of all obstacles to a rapid development of the resources of 
a country or state, the want of easy communication between 
the interior and the seaboard, or local market, is one of the 
most serious. Cheap, expeditious and certain transportation 
is essential. Our lands are particularly favored in this re- 
spect, as the Coatzacoalcos river is navigable for river boats 
the year round, by which we can send our products quickly 
and at an extremely small cost to the port of Coatzacoalcos. 
At the same time, if desirable, either for freight or passenger 
traffic, our boats can ascend the Coatzacoalcos and Jaltepec 
rivers, a distance of fourteen miles, to the station of Santa 
Lucre tia. upon the Tehuantepec railroad, from which ship- 
ments can be made either by the way of Salina Cruz, upon 
the Pacific ocean, or Coatzacoalcos, upon the Gulf of Mexico. 
This road is owned and operated by the Mexican government. 

Commerce always seeks the shortest route, and as this 
new road brings San Francisco, China and Japan ports more 
than a thousand miles nearer New York and European ports 
than Panama does, it can easily be seen that traffic which 
now reaches Europe by Cape Horn and Panama will soon find 
its way over the Tehuantepec road. This will bring steamships 
from every part of the world to the ports of Salina Cruz and 
Coatzacoalcos and make the Isthmus of Tehuantepec a promi- 
nent and well known country. A number of American and 
European steamship lines are already making these ports reg- 
ularly, and abundant means can always be depended upon for 



the cheap and speedy carrying of our products to all parts of 
the United States and Europe. 

In regard to transportation, as well as cheap labor and 
freedom from frost, we have every advantage over the fruit 
growers in California and Florida. 

Fruit-carrying ocean steamships ascend the Coatzacoalcos 
river to Taoamichapa island, a distance of thirty-seven miles, 
giving every opportunity for the secure and expeditious load- 
ing of perishable fruit, and avoiding the spoilage and expense 
of lighterage to which all the Central and South American 
frviit ports are subject. 

Bananas and pineapples can be loaded on our river boats 
at the plantation on the evening of one day and delivered 
early on the morning of the next to the gulf steamships, and 
arrive in Galveston after a trip of fifty hours. This gives us 
from three to six days' advantage over the banana growers of 
Central America, which means a saving of a large percentage 
of expense and loss from spoilage. 0)1 account of the dis- 
tance saved, and being able to ship our coffee direct from the 
plantation to New York City, we have a much smaller cost 
for freight than any coffee- growing district in North,, South 
or Centred America. 



a^^ 



LABOR: DESCR IPTION, 
SUPPLY AND COST.^.^ 

The Indians on the Isthmus are the most indvistrious, hon- 
est and peaceful in Mexico, of a mild and gentle disposition, 
and not inclined toward war or disturbances of any nature. 
They are very muscular, and possess wonderful endurance. In 
color, they are lighter than our own Indians ; their features 
are much finer, and the expression of the face more pleasant. 

At present abvindant labor is available at an average cost 
of fifty cents ijer day for afull grown man, and, if employed regu- 
larly, from ten to twelve dollars per month (Mexican silver). 
Women and children do a great deal of the work on a coffee 
plantation, and during the picking season the major part of it, 
for which they receive a much smaller compensation than 
men. After a plantation is five years old, the owner can figure 
his labor at an average cost of twenty-five cents per day. 

Mexican silver is always subject to a large discount as 
compared ivith gold, resulting in material advantage to the 
planter, as all his labor is paid in silver, vhile the product is 
sold in foreign countries for gold. 

TAXES. 

There are no taxes on unimproved property in Mexico, and 
the tax upon improved property is less than in the United 
States, and is based on the income derived therefrom. 

TITLE. 

This property was purchased from the Pacheco estate 
and the title is perfect, having been passed upon by Senor 
Louis Mendez, President of the Bar Association of Mexico and 
one of the ablest native attorneys of the Republic, as well as 
by our own legal counsel, Mr. D. J. Haff, of Kansas City, who 
made a special trip to Mexico for that purpose. 



AN IMPORTANT 

After having secured land possessing the necessary re- 
quirements for successful coffee growing, in the way of climate, 
soil, transportation and labor, another equally important and 
essential feature must be supplied, viz : Men to take charge 
of the property who are thoroughly experienced in planting 
and caring for the trees and harvesting their products, and at 
the same time possessing a thorough understanding of the 
laboring element which must be employed to do this work, so 
as to get the largest and most satisfactory returns for the 
money expended, without causing friction and discontent in 
their midst. 

We have spared neither trouble nor expense to secure 
what was necessary in this direction, with a result that we can 
and do, without fear of contradiction, assure our patrons that 
no plantation in Mexico, Central or South America has men 
better fitted and more competent in every way to take charge 
of such properties than the gentlemen we have secured for 
that purpose. 

This is an item of the utmost importance, and adds to the 
many advantages people dealing with this company will enjoy. 
They are not putting their money into the hands of irresponsi- 
ble and inexperienced people to experiment with, bvit entering 
into a clearly defined business transaction with a solid, re- 
sponsible concern, so fully equipped in every respect as to 
afford the greatest security and jirofit, with the element of 
chance reduced to the smallest possible minimum. 



WHAT OTHERS 

^y^^L X 4 t^^ t^^ t^^ t^^ t^^ 



In order that the probable investor may not be left entirely 
dependent upon our judgment, we submit the opinions of those 
in a position to know whereof they speak. Any further infor- 
mation in this direction will be cheerfully furnished, and there 
is in our office an immense amount of literature, covering this 
whole subject, including Consular Reports for a series of 
years, from all parts of the world where coffee growing is car- 
ried on as an industry. We also have a large number of pho- 
tographs, from which one can gain a good idea of the existing 
condition of our plantations, as well as samples of different 
grades of coffee produced in this locality, all of which will be 
cheerfully shown and explained to visitors, who are welcome 
at any and all times. 



EXTRACTS FROM 
THE PRESS« jt ^ ^ 

EXTRACTS FROM ''THE RAILWAY REVOLUTION IN 
MEXICO." 

By Bernard Moses, Ph. D. , University of California, San Francisco, 1895. 

"Among the more general economic effects of the building 
of railways in Mexico may be observed an increasing tendency 
to establish and conduct productive enterprises with corporate 
capital. A conspicuous weakness of the Spaniards in Spain, 
and their descendants in x\merica, has been their inability to 
form and conduct successfully industrial and commercial cor- 
porations. 

"The missionary of the modern industrial system is in the 
field ; and through his personal solicitations, and through the 
force of the example of corporations already organized, Mexico 
is destined to be carried more and more into line with those 
nations that have at present largely supplanted individual in- 
dustry by corporate industry. 

"At jjresent the cultivation of coffee is attracting special 
attention, and on the Eastern slope much progress has already 
been made. 

"Among the reasons is the extraordinary profit which the 
production of coffee offers. 

"The cost of its production in Mexico in general is be- 
tween 8 and 10 cents per pound, Mexican money, and it sells 
at from 25 to 32 cents. 

"The facts indicate that the present extraordinary de- 
mands for coffee lands in Mexico have a reasonable founda- 
tion. 

"Mexico has important advantages. * * * ghe has a 
territory adapted in soil and climate to this form of cultiva- 
tion, and, in the Indians, an excellent body of laborers, perhaps 
better fitted for this kind of work than the ordinary laborers 
of any other country. 

" From an examination of the statistics we get the fol- 
lowing general results, showing the exports of coffee from 
Mexico : 



In 1873 1 432,100 pounds 

In 1883 18,598,^19 pounds 

In 1889 21,755,956 pounds 

In 1890 27,797,050 pounds 



FROM'' COFFEE; ITS CULTURE AND COMMERCE." 

By C. G. "Warnforcl Lock, F. L. S., Published in L-ondon in 1888. 

'' Though Mexico scarcely figures in the coflfee producing 
countries, its capacity and adaptability have been tested by 
successful cultivation. * * * Mexico as a coffee producing 
country has been tested by more than fifty years" experience. 

* * * That coffee has not assumed the first place in expor- 
tation is to be attributed to the same causes which have re- 
tarded all other developments of the country. * * * xhe 
production has been mostly consumed by the home demand, 
which is quite large, as coffee is in general use by all classes. 

* * * When the plant is five years old it gives a full 
crop. * * * The trees continue bearing from twenty to 
twenty -five years. There are, however, trees sixty to seventy 
years old which are bearing a fine crop. It is not uncommon 
to find trees yielding 5 to 7 ijounds. * * * After the plants 
begin to bear a full crop, the annual cost of production, up to 
sale in market, is 6 to 7 cents a pound. * * * The favor- 
able report on sample lots sent to Europe in 1873 gave an im- 
petus to the cultivation, since when planting continues to in- 
crease and coffee promises to become the principal article of 
export.'' 



FROM ''COFFEE IN MEXICO: CULTIVATION AND 
PROFIT." 

By Joseph Walsh, Philadelphia, 1894. 

" The industry of coft'ee culture is still in its infancy in 
Mexico, though the product is of a superior quality and grad- 
ing among the best grown in any country of the world. 

" Mexican coffee is worth at present from 20 to 22 cents 
per pound in the American market, while the average cost of 
production is 7 cents. A plantation will pay from one to three 



hundred per cent on the capital invested, each tree yielding 
annually from 3 to 10 pounds. 

"The value of cotfee plantations in full bearing is calcu- 
lated at the rate of Sl.OO per grown tree ; a single acre produc- 
ing from 600 to 800 trees. 

"The soil and cliniate suitable for coflfee growing are also 
adapted to the cultivation of tobacco, corn, beans, bananas and 
most tropical and sub-tropical fruits. But among all market- 
able fruits, the growing of which is here accessory to coffee 
culture, the pineapple is the least expensive and most profit- 
able, especially where the planter has close and cheap trans- 
portation to the Gulf ports." 



FROM "COFFEE FROM PLANTATION TO CUP.'' 

By Francis B. Thirber 

"Mr. Willis Weaver, who made this subject a study, wrote 
to Hon. Wm. G. LeDuc, Commissioner of Agriculture at 
Washington, D. C, as follows: 

■' ' The yield is estimated sometimes as low as two pounds 
to the plant, but the same cultivator who gives me this figure 
says he is convinced that the increase of the yield indefinitely 
is only a question of improved cultivation. A more usual 
estimate is three pounds. The cost of production is five cents 
per pound.' " 



FROM "COFFEE GROWING IN MEXICO." 

By J. P. Taylor, City of Mexico, 1894. 

"Generally speaking, the Mexican planter has fewer 
troubles to contend with in growing coffee than the planter of 
any other covmtry, and is sure of a regular crop. 

" Twenty-five years may be taken as the average of coffee 
trees to remain in remunerative bearing. 

" Estimates as to the profits vary, but the lowest of them 
show an enormous profit, something like 100 per cent per an- 
num on the capital employed." 



FROM CONSULAR REPORT TO UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT. 

By James J. Peterson, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November llth, 1893 

"The cost of raising coffee, after the plantation is well 
established, will not reach the sum of 6 cents (gold) per 
jjound, including all expenses of management, labor, interest, 
wear and tear of machinery, etc. 

"With proper care and attention, coffee trees will produce 
from 3 to 10 pounds each year." 



TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH CONSULAR REPORT 

OF J892. 

"Mexican coffee took the first premium at the Centennial 
Exposition in Philadelphia. * * * Mexican coffees were 
given the grand prize at the Paris Exposition. * * * They 
will take the highest award at the World's Fair in Chicago." 



LONDON *' TIMES/' JANUARY 4th, 1894. 

"There are many healthy signs of commercial and indus- 
trial movement in Mexico. * * * That a part of its terri- 
tory is suitable for coffee culture is certain. There can be no 
doubt the future of this business is a promising one." 



FROM ''THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC." 

Report Made by the Scientific Commission Under the Direction of Major 
J. G. Barnard, U. S. Engineer, by J. J. Winiams, Principal As- 
sistant Engineer, 1853. 

Vegetable Productions. — "To present a full and compre- 
hensive view of the botanical productions of the Isthmus, em- 
bracing, as it does, a variety of tropical and inter tropical 
plants so valuable and numerous as to be unequaled within 
the same extent of territory, would exceed the usual limits of 
a work which is designed more as a record of mathematical 
results than a treatise on the natural resources of a country. 



"The distribution of plants on the Isthmus differs from 
that of Mexico in general, insomuch that the vegetation of the 
loftier table-lands is less distinctly marked. On the margins 
of the Gulf and the ocean are found the usual plants of inter- 
tropical shores, and in the middle of the Isthmus are found 
families which vegetate favorably at elevations below 5,000 feet 
within the tropics ; this occurring not because the elevation is 
sufficient to wari'ant the grouith, but that the lower level of 
the Isthmus is cooled much beloto the average temperature of 
its latitude by the constant northeast winds, bi/ the great 
humidity of the northern slope, and by the pro.rimity of 
the lofty table-lands and mountain summits which, cool the 
land in their vicinity. 

"The mean annual temperature of the Gulf shore of the 
Isthmus is 81 degrees. The summer heat is that of latitude 12 
degrees more northerly in Africa and Western Asia, and the 
winter heat that of its own latitudes even on lai"ge continents. 
In other words, it has a cooler summer and more moderate 
winter than similar latitudes, and it is this extreme equality 
of climate which gives to these lands the beauty and profusion 
of vegetation with which they are clothed. 

"It is on the outside of the limits of the equatorial zone, 
and its productions are those of a tropical zone, which is an 
advantage this Isthmus possesses over any point further south, 
lying in the equatorial zone. 

"The Isthmus is placed under the 15th region, or that of 
the cactus and pepper families, because these are the predomi- 
nating ones found growing there. The mean temperature of 
this botanical region varies from 68 degrees to 8i degrees Fah- 
renheit, and includes among others the cultivated species : 
Zea M. sorglium, jatropha, dioscorea, convolvulus, ai'racacha, 
marautn, musa, mangofera, amoma, psidium, cocos, carica, 
persica, bromelia, anacardium, tamarindus, citrus, passi- 
flora, theobroma, vanilla, coffea, saccharuvi, lycopersicum, 
cai'sicum, cajanus, arachis, opuntia, nicotinna, and gos- 
sypium. 

"The banks of the Coatzacoalcos exhibit, in a wild state, 
the greatest abundance of coffee, and with few exceptions no 
pains are taken to cultivate it, although the quality is ad- 
mitted to be very superior. This neglect may be readily 
accounted for in the universal preference which exists among 
the natives for chocolate. The only coffee plantation worthy 
of note is one on the island of Tacamichapa, opposite the vil- 
lage of Almagres. 



" Important in value is the siphoani elastiea, or Indian 
rubber tree, which is found in astonishing numbers thx-ough- 
out the forests that skirt the tributary streams. Its value, 
however, is so little appreciated there, that the gvuii is only 
gathered for foot balls, or for some few medicinal purposes. 

"In the production of fruits and leguminous plants, the 
Isthmus perhaps stands unrivalled ; and it seems superfluous 
to enumerate, even incidentally, the different varieties which 
constitute either articles for food, or those deserving of espe- 
cial culture and adapted for purposes of exportation. Yet 
many of them claim particular notice, either for their delicious 
flavor, abundant growth, or the nvitritive qualities for which 
they are distinguished ; among these we find the chico-zapote, 
lemoncilio, orange, chayote, cocoanut, lemon, pineapple (some- 
times reaching the enormovis weight of fifteen pounds), melon, 
mamey, chiraymoya, citron, mango, banana, plantain, guava 
and pomegranate. 

" Of the maize, frijoles, sugar, cacao, tobacco, cotfee and 
cotton raised on the Isthmus, it is difficult to speak in terms 
which might convey an adequate idea of the adaptation of the 
soil and climate to their cultivation, or the perfection to 
which they are susceptible of being brought. 

" But when we reflect upon the productiveness of the soil, 
the salubrity of the climate and the boundless character of 
the vegetation of the Isthmus, it is not difficult to see how 
great must be the reward which would crown the efforts of 
an industrious planter. 

"In conclusion, it is utterly impossible, even at a momen- 
tary glance like this, not to be struck with the value of the 
boundless riches which nature has showered into the lap of the 
Isthmus; nor can we estimate the changes to be effected or the 
benefits to result from their gathering, ' when its soil shall be- 
come the emporium of commerce, and teem with wealth and 
abundance.' Even the outline which we have traced, presents 
but a feeble delineation of the golden harvest which is to be 
reaped in the future. Nevertheless, sufficient has doubtless 
been said to awaken attention to the natural resources of this 
favored region, and to show beyond question the present and 
prospective value of that which already exists. 

Health. — "On the northeastern division of the Isthmus, 
on the Gulf slope, where the rainy season begins in the middle 
of June and terminates in November, the district appears to 
be unusually healthy, and it is not uncommon to meet with 
natives seventy and eighty years of age residing there. 

, . 37 . . 



"The central division of the Isthmus is perhaps the 
healthiest, a circumstance due to its elevation and better 
drainage. 

" Yellow fever has never been known to occur on the 
Isthmus. 

" I took particular care to inquire among the inhabitants 
what were the diseases from which they mostly suffered and 
how strangers settling among them were affected, and I ascer- 
tained beyond doubt that not only Minatitlan, but the whole 
plain of the Coatzacoalcos river, wherever inhabited, was a 
remarkably healthy country. 

"Not a single case of yellow fever has ever occurred in 
Minatitlan. Nor did I learn of any dangerous form of fever 
existing. I heard of cases of intermittent fever, which must 
have been of a very mild type, as it was usually cured by the 
natives themselves with remedies indigenous to the country, 
such as bark of the palo-mulato, a tree growing abundantly on 
the Isthmus. 

"I met at Minatitlan with several individuals who formed 
a part of the French colony, and who had resided there for 
twenty two years. They all assured me that they had enjoyed 
uninterrupted health. The appearance of the natives proves 
the country to be healthy, and our small party had no reason 
to complain of sickness during its stay. 

" The conviction in the minds of those engaged in draw- 
ing up this report, and one founded on a residence upon the 
spot, is that the climate of the Isthmus is a mild and hea Ithy 
one, favorable to longevity and free from many diseases inci- 
dental to more temperate latitudes. The health of those en- 
gaged on the survey- was unusually good during their entire 
stay ; and although frequently by accident wetted to the skin 
and remaining in wet clothes the whole day, and this occurring 
on successive days, with limited food at long intervals, yet none 
suffered in consequence — a strong proof that their health was 
due to the favorable climate." 



EXTRACTS TAKEN FROM A REPORT TO THE 
UNITED STATES SENATE, 

Of the United States Scientific Expedition to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 
Commanded by Captain R. W. Shufeldt, U. S. N., 1872. 

"The Isthmvis presents every inducement to foreigners — 
thousands of acres of fertile land to be cultivated, in a con- 



genial climate, and no obstacles or prejvidices in the way of 
religious, social or industrial ideas. 

"The soil on the Atlantic plains is a rich alluvial deposit, 
often twenty feet in depth. This region is generally heavily 
timbered, but occasionally open, grass covered plains are met 
with. 

"The soil is remarkably fertile and if cleared and culti- 
vated, would yield abundantly all the agricultural products 
adapted to this latitude and climate. 

"Coffee of a good quality grows on the Atlantic slope and 
in the central division. From what we saw of the coffee tree 
growing in the woods and in the gardens, we came to the con- 
clusion that the soil and climate of the Isthmus are well 
adapted to its cultivation. We were all surprised to find the 
coffee of so fine a flavor. It is rather milder than the Java, 
but in flavor is not inferior. 

"The Ule or India rubber tree abounds on the Atlantic 
plains. At the present time only a small quantity of the gum 
is collected, but owing to a large number of trees in this 
region, and the increasing demand for this substance, the day 
is probably not far distant when this valuable gum will be 
raised here in large quantities for exportation. 

" The pineapple is of good size and fine flavor, and limes 
and lemons are often seen growing wild. 

" There are as many as fifteen well known varieties of the 
banana, some of which are a very superior quality. Like the 
orange, the best bananas are found on the Atlantic plains and 
in the central division, and they are ripe at all seasons of the 
year. 

"Oranges grow in all yjarts of the Isthmus, but those of 
the Atlantic plain and the central division are the best. On 
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec there is no frost to blight this 
crop as there is occasionally in Florida and Louisiana ; nor 
hurricanes to kill it as in the West Indies : nor are the north- 
ers violent enough on the Atlantic plains to injure it. 

" Many of our garden vegetables grow very well in all parts 
of the Isthmus. We saw lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, string 
beans, beets and onions gi'owing in the gardens. 

" The climate is a healthful one and it is the boast of the 
inhabitants of the Isthmus that the yellow fever has never 
visited them. 

" The Indians are found settled over the whole Isthmus. 
They are of a mild and gentle disposition, very muscular and 



possess, many of them, wonderful endurance. In color they 
are lighter than our own Indians, their features are much 
finer, and the expression of the face is more pleasing. " 



ti 



REPORTS^ ON OUR LAND : 
SOIL, CLIMATE, PRODUCTS 



Jaltipan, March 25, 1894. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company : 

Gentlemen : — In compliance with your request of March 
2, I beg to enclose herewith my report on your land. 

The property in question is situated in the State of Vera 
Cruz, at the confluence of the Coatzacoalcos and Chalchijapa 
rivers, fifty-seven miles by direct air line from the port of 
Coatzacoalcos, and fourteen miles by river from the station of 
Santa Lucretia on the Tehviantepec railway. They are bounded 
on the north by lands of the Fortune estate; on the east by 
Terreno de Pacheco, and the Chalchijapa river; on the south by 
the Chalchijapa river, and on the west by the Chalchijapa and 
Coatzacoalcos rivers, and situated in, perhaps, the most desir- 
able part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, near the joining of 
the three States of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas. All the 
land in this tract is good, it being perfectly clear from swamps 
and lagoons. The river banks are high, the land is rolling and 
slopes gradually from the river. By reason of the peculiar 
topographical formation of the Isthmus, there is an almost 
consta'nt interchange of air currents between the Atlantic and 
Pacific oceans, a distance of only one hundred and forty miles 
intervening, making the climate both pleasant and healthful. 
Owing to the same reasons, this land is possessed of conditions 
highly favorable to tropical and semi tropical agriculture. The 
soil is a rich vegetable loam, very deep, extremely fertile, and 
particularly well adapted to the successful culture of cotfee, 
rubber and all kinds of tropical and semi-tropical fruits and 
vegetables. 

These lands are well situated in regard to transportation 
facilities, lying beside two large and navigable rivers, render- 
ing them undoubtedly the best watered tract on the Isthmus, 
and possessing the most convenient, desirable and easy means 
of transportation. 

Good reliable labor can be readily obtained here at a ma.xi- 
mum cost of $15.00 per month (Mexican silver). 
Respectfully yours, 
[Signed] F. O. HARRIMAN, C. E. 



City of Mexico, October 12, ISDi. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company : 

Gentlemen :— I have completed the survey and subdi- 
vision of the lands purchased by you, and in compliance with 
your request beg to report the following : 

These lands are well watered and drained, the river banks 
high and free from overflow and the soil of great depth and 
fertility. 

They are readily accessible by rail and water, the National 
Tehuantepec Railroad being but nine kilometers distant and 
the river navigable at all seasons. 

During my four years' residence on the Isthmus I have 
conducted many extensive surveys and these lands are with- 
out doubt the finest I have seen. 

I am familiar with coffee culture in Mexico and particu- 
larly on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and do not hesitate to 
pronounce your lands the very best to be had for that pur- 
pose, as well as being admirably adapted for the profitable 
growing and marketing of many other tropical products. 
[Signed] E. KIRBY-SMITH, C. E. 

Mexico, May 30, 1894. 
Senor H. W. Bennett, Pres. Mexican Gulf Agricultural Co., 
Hotel Guardiola, Mexico : 

Dear Sir : — It affords me much pleasure to comply with 
your request for my opinion of your lands on the Isthmus and 
described in your letter. 

The northern half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is one 
of the most fertile portions of Mexico. It enjoys all the advan- 
tages of a tropical latitude, at the same time possessing a 
pleasant and healthful climate. I know of no land better 
suited for your purpose. The foreign settler will find it a 
healthful place to live, and the Indian of that locality to be in- 
dustrious and peaceable. 

This land is admirably adapted to the cultivation of tropi- 
cal products, especially cojfee, rubber and fruit, all of which 
are highly profitable. 

The plan upon which you propose to operate I consider a 
most excellent one. In it I see nothing theoretical or imprac- 
tical, and there is no reason why it should not meet with the 
greatest success. The individual who receives his 100 acres in 
the condition you propose to have it at the end of five years, 
will receive property worth many times the value it costs him. 



and thereafter possesses a large and certain income. At the 
same time he will have avoided all the worry, hardships and 
toil necessary to put the land in a productive state. 

To put a coffee farm on a paying basis requires capital, a 
thorough knowledge of the business, and years of patient toil 
and application. The profit the company will reap they are 
entitled to, and the purchaser can well afford to allow it to 
them. Most sincerely yours. 

[Signed! ERNEST FREMY, 
Professor of Viticulture, Agricul- 
ture, Horticulture and Botany. 

[Note. — Mr. Fremy was for many years Chief of the Ag- 
ricultural and Botanical Bureaus of the Department of the In- 
terior of the Mexican government] 

Consulate-General of the United States. 

City of Mexico, May 28, 1894. 
Mexican Gulf Agi'icidtural Company : 

Gentlemen : — I have yours of A pril 6th,propounding certain 
questions to me regarding certain lands situated on the Isth- 
mus of Tehuantepec, accompanied with jjrospectus of pro- 
posed method of handling the same. I take pleasure in 
answering the questions seriatim as far as I am capable of 
doing. 

Your first question is as follows: "Are the lands described 
in this prospectus thoroughly adapted and desirably located 
for the successful culture of rubber, coffee and fruit?" They 
are, from the best and most accurate information I can obtain. 

Second — The C'oatzacoalcos river is navigable the year 
round for ocean steamers as far as Minatitlan, and for boats 
drawing eighteen inches of water as far as Suchil, a point 
some distance beyond these lands. I am under the impression 
that the Tehuantepec road is going to be one of the greatest 
commercial thoroughfares in the world, and will command a 
very large international traffic. 

Third — The climate, as far as I have been able to ascer- 
tain, is far more agreeable and pleasant than is generally sup- 
posed. Owing to the peculiar configuration of the Isthmus, it 
is probably more healthful than any other portion of Mexico. 
For a corroboration of this statement reference is had to the 
following authorities: "The Isthmus of Tehuantepec ." pub- 
lished by D. Appleton in 1852. "Survey of the Isthmus," by 



a party of United States enerineers, under Captain Shufeldt, 
in 1872. " Geog-rafia Cliinatold^ica ,"' (Climatologieal Geo- 
graphy) of Mexico, published l)y the Mexican government. 

Fourth — " Are the Mexican laws favorable to foreign im- 
migration?" They are, and the government is endeavoring 
annually to make them more so. 

Fifth—" What are the political conditions as to i)ersonal 
security and protection of property?" I consider this a firm 
and stable government, and it does all possible for the security 
of life and property. 

Sixth — "What are they likely to be in the future?" I 
know of no reason to believe that life and property will not be 
as safe in the fviture as at the present time. 

Seventh — " Are the inhabitants of this particular locality 
peaceable, industrious and honest, and kindly disposed to the 
American settler? " I have been so informed. I have not 
been on the Isthmvis myself, but have been in constant asso- 
ciation with those who have been there frequently, and all say 
the same thing. 

Eighth — " Is sufficient native labor available, and at what 
cost? " I am informed that it is plentiful and men on planta- 
tions are employed regularly at from $8.00 to $16.00 per month, 
Mexican money. 

Your ninth question is : "With the figures as embodied 
in this prospectus and after such inqviiry and research as you 
maybe able to make, what is yovir opinion as to the practica- 
bility, feasibility and desirability of this particular plan of 
operation?" Personally, as you well know, I have no prac- 
tical knowledge of the fruit or coffee business, Vjut from what 
I can see and learn of it, this scheme impresses me as being 
practical, feasible and desirable. This opinion of mine is cor- 
roborated by that of people here, who are in a position to know 
whereof they speak. Yours very truly, 

[Signed] THOS. T. CRITTENDEN, 

Consul-General. 



FROM AN ISTHMUS PLANTER. 

City of Mkxico, Sept. 30, 1894. 
Mr. Louis Kunz, Kansas City, Mo.: 

Dear Sir : — In accordance with your request, I have the 
pleasure of giving you my views concerning lands on the 



Isthmus of Tehuantepec. I am going to give some practical 
facts which can be readily verified. 

Just at this moment we are at a point where we can make 
a study of the plantations in bearing in the northern part of 
the Isthmus, and judge of the advantages of soil, as well as 
the abundance of the coffee crop, in order to estimate the 
average income yearly from each plant. 

On an estate called Pina Blanca, situated on the Coatza- 
coalcos river, I have a cotfee plantation, and have seen the 
bushes so full that I could not resist the curiosity which 
prompted me to weigh the picking, which amounted to 10 
and 12 povmds gross, and after drying and shelling averaged 
over 3 pounds per bush, allowing for waste, etc. 

I would also state that two years ago I sent some samples 
of coffee to a friend in the United States, who pronounced it 
as equal to the best Oaxaca coffee. 

I am, verv truly yours, 
[Signed] FRANCISCO GARCIA, 

Jaltipan, Mexico. 

Mr. Carlos C. Mordaunt, inventor of the Mordaunt 
Coffee Huller and owner of the " Cafetal Eureka,'" at Soco- 
nusco, Mexico, and who has refused §200,000 (gold) for his 250 
acre plantation (only 175 acres in coffee) says : 

"My bearing trees net me $250 (gold) per acre per annum, 
after paying all expenses, the trees coming into full bearing 
in six years from the seed.'' 



?^*^ 



LETTERS FROM RECENT 
VISITORS TO ^^DOS RIOS^^ 

[Translated Copy.] 

Tehuantepec, January 1, 189G. 
Senor M. H. Leiois, Manager Mexican Gulf Agrivnltin-al Co., 
Hotel Guardiola, Mexico: 

My Dear Sir : — It affords me pleasure, after spending a 
week at "Dos Rios," and looking over the wonderful amount 
of work done there in one year, to recommend in the highest 
terms, the efficiency of the gentlemen in charge of yovir business 
and my unlimited confidence in the ability of your Superin- 
tendent, Major Clemow, to succes-ifully carry out the require- 
ments of the best planned and thought-ovxt jn-oposition I have 
ever seen applied to coffee or any other agricultural product. 

You are also to be congratulated on Iraving secured land 
so well adapted to coffee culture : the soil, climate, transpor- 
tation and labor supply being perfect. I base my opinion on 
my experience of fourteen years as a coffee raiser in one of the 
best districts of Guatemala, where I have brought 120 acres 
into bearing, which yields me a net income in gold of $175 per 
acre, after paying §1.00 a day for labor and packing my product 
150 miles on mule back. 

My soil is not as deep as yours, nor is our rainfall as evenly 
divided, nor as heavy and our climate more variable ; nor do I 
enjoy the same advantages in the way of natural shade. For 
this reason, yovi will undoubtedly get 3 pounds of good coffee 
from five year old trees for twenty-five years. 

Trusting you will realize all I hope for you and expecting 
you at my "finca " next year, where my house and my servants 
are yours, I am, 

Respectfully yours, 
[Signed] JOSE LEANDRO de CASTILLO. 

Dos Rics, March .3, 1896. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company. 

Gentlemen :--To those who douhtt the adaptability of the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the successful culture of coffee, I 
will say that on the plantation of Dos Rios I to-day saw coffee 
trees twenty-one months old from the seed, well loaded with 
berries and counted 96 beans on one branch measuring one 



foot in length, and a visit to the different sections of the plan- 
tation showed the younger plants in a thrifty condition. 

Respectfully, 
[Signed] G. C. SANBORN. 

[Note. — Mr. Sanborn is a member of the Chicago Board 
of Trade, and has lately returned from a trip to the Isthmus.] 



Dos Rigs Plantation, 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, May 15, 1895. 
Mexican Gulf AgriculUiral Company : 

Gentlemen:— Complying with your request, I deem it only 
justice to you to give you my opinion from observation and in- 
spection of your "Dos Rios" lands. 

I have been most agreeably surprised, and as an old and 
experienced coffee planter. I may be allowed to say that yovu- 
lands are eminently suitable for coffee growing, and certainly 
in that respect are superior to anything I have seen in Mexico, 
after a thorough inspection of the districts of Jalapa, Coate- 
pec, Cordoba, Orizaba and the State of Oaxaca ; your soil 
being rich and fertile and covered by a forest, the character of 
which marks it out as " par excellence " of fine coffee country. 
Your water transportation seems to be first-class and all that 
can be desired. 

Judging from personal experience, and the appearance of 
both natives and foreigners, I should say your climate is 
good, and only small personal inconvenience arising from a few 
insects, which are indigenous to all open tropical countries, 
and will be certain to be removed by the clearing of the forest 
from the land. 

If this letter will do any good in removing the effects of 
the scandalous reports against the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it 
will have served the purpose of the writer, which is certainly a 
disinterested one, and I wish you every success in your splen- 
did enterprise. Yours faithfully, 

[Signed] GEORGE MARR. 



City of Mexico, March 13, 1896. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company: 

Gentlemen: — In answer to yovu- request for my opini(m on 
the land and conditions surrounding your " Dos Rios "' property. 



beg to state that I have spent two years in Mexico, and have 
seen a great deal of the country, and after a personal visit to 
" Dos Rios " consider the land very fine and well adapted to 
your purposes. In fact, I consider the Chalchijapa and Chima- 
lapa districts the best I have seen for coffee. 
Yours truly, 

[Signed] H. C. DINKINS. 

[Note.— Mr. Dinkins is the General Agent of the A. T. 
& S. F. Ry. in the City of Mexico.] 

Dos Rigs, Mexico, Feb. 18, 1896. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company: 

Gentlemen: — After a residence of one year at Buena Vista, 
near San Jvian Evangelista, during which time I have put in 
60 acres of coffee on my own plantation and given the subject 
much careful consideration, my opinion may possibly be of 
some interest to you and yovu- investors. While I did not see 
all of your extensive improvements, my visit to "Dos Rios" has 
convinced me beyond any doubt that you have most excellent 
land for coffee, rubber and other similar products, and I have 
never seen anywhere better plants or better work than I have 
found on every piece of work I saw there. 
Yours very trvily, 
[Signed] ETHELBERT EKINS. 

Santa Lucretia, 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Feb. 1, 1896. 

Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company : 

Gentlemen: — I have no hesitancy in saying that I think 
you have been most fortunate in securing what I consider to 
be one of the most desirable pieces of land on the Isthmus for 
the successful cviltivation of coffee, rubber and other tropical 
products, both as regards transjjortation facilities and the 
quality of the soil, which certainly is p>(i^" excellence, as is evi- 
denced by the phenomenal results obtained from your nursery 
of coffee plants. This is no visionary statement on my part, 
as I have spent nearly three years on the Isthmus, the larger 
part of which time has been devoted to coffee culture. I have 
examined each and every tract planted by your company and 
consider the work done in a highly efficient manner, which if 
continued as commenced cannot help but produce wonderful 
results. Yours truly, 

[Signed] LEE WEBER. 

. . 48 . . 



Plantation Solo Suchil, 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, March 10, 1896. 

Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company: 

Gentlemen : Complying with your request, and having a 
number of personal friends among your investors in the 
Chalchijapa valley, I take pleasure in testifying to the fitness 
of the "Dos Rios" plantation for the growing of coffee, cocoa, 
rubber, etc. Moreover, being a frequent visitor at "Dos Rios" I 
have had opportunity to watch the progress of development of 
these properties fi'om time to time and can say that all work 
from the niirseries to the clearing and planting has been done 
in the best possible manner, and that no one visiting your prop- 
erty can help being pleased and impressed with the result ac- 
complished during the past year. 

With a knowledge of the different sections of Mexico, 
acquired during the past three years, and a residence of one 
year on my own plantation near " Dos Rios," I am now more 
firmly convinced than ever that these lands are among the 
very best and most desirable in the Republic and possessed of 
transportation facilities equal to any. The climate is pleasant, 
not too hot nor too cold, and perfectly healthful. Indeed, I 
have enjoyed my life here as a planter and have not the least 
doubt of our success. Very truly, 

[Signed] R. O. PRICE. 



Bethesda, Tenn., Jan. 23, 1896. 

Mr. M. H. Lewis, Kansas City, Managerr,3Iexican Gulf Agri- 
cultural Company : 

Dear Mr. Lewis : — In answer to the many enquiries that 
I constantly receive regarding the development of plantations 
on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it has been gratifying to me 
to be able to refer explicitly to the progress made by your 
Comyjany, under your direction. As my faith in coffee culture 
continues to grow and strengthen with study and investiga- 
tion, I can but commend most heartily the foresight and enter- 
prise that you have displayed. 

Your flourishing nurseries and young coffee plantations 
were as fine as any I saw on the Isthmus during my recent 
trip, and the promise they hold for the near future is, I think, 
most flattering. 



It is surprising to see what American pluck and energy 
has accomplished in one year. 

Accept my congratulations on your present work and 
future prospects. Yours truly, 

[Signed] F. A. STEELE. 



rv0\5CN@^o 



STABILITY OF THE MEXICAN 
GOVERNMENT. J- J- J' ^ J> j^ ji> 



Consolidated 

Kansas City Smelting and Refining Companv. 

General Office. 

Kansas City, April 18, 1896. 
Mr. D. J. Haff, Vice-Pres., Mexican Gulf Agricultural Co. 

My Dear Sir: — I comply willingly with your request to 
state my view of the stability of the Mexican Government 
and the safety of investments in Mexico, for the reason that I 
look upon Mexico as a most promising field for investment of 
capital. 

Myself and a coterie of friends, who have for a period of 
over fifteen years invested together, first began to look up 
Mexico in 1886, ten years ago. Our investigations were most 
thorough, and convinced us so absolutely of the great advan- 
tage and safety of Mexican investments that we have, since our 
beginning, placed in Mexico and in business connected with 
Mexico, about $4,000,000. We have not had a single case of 
oppression from government — except our own — in our dealings 
with Mexico. We have had neither losses from individual nor 
corporate dishonesty. Our property, and it embraces railroads, 
smelting works, mines and lands, has never been burdened 
unjustly, titles have been found perfect, and contracts easy 
and secure of enforcement. The Government of Mexico, we 
have found equal to the task of enforcing all rights of persons 
and property. I have not the slightest hesitation to say that 
I deem property as safe in Mexico as in the United States. 
I am, my dear sir. 

Very respectfully yours, 

[Signed] A. R. MEYER. 

President. 



LETTERS FROM A FEW 
OF OUR INVESTORS. J- 



Adolf Lange, 
Druggist and Pharmacist, 
Cor. 4th and Shawnee Sts. 

Leavenworth, Kansas, March 21, 1896. . 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company: 

Gentlemen : — When I purchased my one hundred acres 
of coffee land at "Dos Rios," I regarded the transaction simply 
as a venture ; a few months after, having heard from parties 
who had seen that portion of the Isthmus, so many fine reports 
of its resovirces and promising future, I began to think of my 
venture as a good speculation, and resolved to see the country 
myself, and, as yovi know, I have just returned from there. 
The result is that I now regard my possession on the Isthmus 
as a safe and very likely to prove a highly profitable investment. 

I am fully convinced of this, having seen with my own 
eyes coffee growing to perfection in your immediate neighbor- 
hood on land apparently not near so well adapted for coffee as 
your lands. 

To judge from the hundreds of acres of coffee yovi have 
already planted and the several millions of coffee plants in your 
nurseries and which will before many months, find their places 
in the plantations under your charge, it is safe to predict that 
"Dos Rios" will, in a few years, send millions of pounds of 
choice coffee to market, affording handsome incomes to the 
fortunate owners of the plantations. 

I found the climate very agreeable and healthful, the 
natives clean, peaceaVjle, polite and industrious and all con- 
ditions mvich better than expected : in fact, I found everything 
exactly as represented in the literature issued by your Company, 
your work in good and efficient hands, and being carried out 
in conformity with your promises. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the four weeks spent at "Dos Rios " 
and already look forward with pleasure to my contemplated 
trip there again this coming winter. 

I have just written to your Superintendent, Major Clemow, 
thanking him for the many courtesies received at his hands 
and wish also to here express to you, gentlemen, my thanks for 
favors extended. 

Yours very truly, 

[Signed] ADOLF LANGE. 



MiNATiTLAN, E. cle V. C, Feb. 21, 1896. 
E. W. Woodcock, Esq., Chicago, III. : 

Dear Sib : — I have been living on the Isthmus for over a 
year, having in charge several coffee plantations. 

Lately I had the pleasure of paying a visit to "Dos Rios," 
where the Mexican Gulf Co. are operating extensively. 

I took particular pleasure in looking over the work being 
done and I am pleased to inform you that I found everything 
being pushed forward vigorously and in a most able and effi- 
cient manner. 

The topography and climate of the country are all that 
could be desired for coffee raising and I firmly believe that 
with the improvements now going on, the Isthmus will be one 
of the best coffee producing countries in the world within a 
few years. 

My experience of eight years on the Malabar Coast, 
Madras Pres., India, entitles me to express an opinion, which 
may be of interest to parties who, like yourself, are investing 
down here. I am, dear sir, very trulj' yours, 

[Signed] W. I. BROWN. 

Mexico City, March 12, 1896. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company : 

Gentlemen: — I have just retvirned from your " Dos Rios" 
property and found it a most beautiful country. I was sur- 
prised to find so many improvements, as I exjjected to have to 
live with the natives, bvit on the contrary was entertained as 
nicely as here in the city. Your superintendent escorted us 
over the lands planted to coffee and we were highly pleased 
with the condition, as well as the prospect. He undoubtedly 
understands his business in ijreparing the ground and plant- 
ing coffee. There were several nursery beds under construc- 
tion, besides a great many in fine plants. They were looking 
fine. We were informed that there would be about 3.000,000 
trees for transplanting. I found the lands a deep, dark loam, 
clay subsoil and covered with a heavy growth of timber, just 
the kind for coffee growing. Besides coffee, we saw there 
fine pineapijles, bananas and garden vegetables of all kinds, 
growing in fine condition. We met several American families 
living on and cultivating their respective lands at Dos Rios, 
and all were very well pleased with the country and its future 
prospects. 



Trusting other investors will, like myself, be able to view 
their investments personally, as they will be better pleased, I 
remain. Yours truly, 

[Signed] F. H. GORTON, 

Crawford, Neb. 



S. Jackson, 
Arpartado 34, 
Buyer : Hard & Rand, N. Y. 

Orizaba, Mexico, Dec. 13, 1895. 
Wm. Leitch, Esq., Kansas City, Mo. : 

Dear Sir :— I have your favor of the 6th inst., and am 
pleased to say that the coffees marked H. R. T., No. 1 and No. 
2, listed by New York, are Tehuantepec coffees, which I bought 
on the Isthmus last May. I bought this lot through my 
Oaxaca representative and it came from Tehuantepec proper. 

Coffee raising on the Isthmus is not experimental, and 
while I have never been there, the accounts I have of that sec- 
tion from my buyers and other reliable sources are very flatter- 
ing, and in a few years it promises to be quite an important 
section. Quite a number of Americans are located there and I 
believe a Kansas City syndicate or company are operating there 
on quite a large scale. While in St. Louis a few months ago, 
I was interviewed by several who contemplated investing in a 
company being organized by some wealthy American resident 
in Mexico City, and on my way there recently I met and trav- 
eled with a Mr. Halsey, of St. Louis, who, with four friends 
from New York, were en route to settle on the Isthmus, with 
the intention of raising coffee and rubber. 

Last year I met Mr. Lionel Garden, Her British Majesty's 
Consul, of Mexico City, who was returning from the Isthmus. 
He spoke in very flattering terms of the section and assured 
me he would invest there. While your tract is a small one, I 
should say your investment is a good and safe one, and, with 
proper management, will in a few years yield you a fine and 
paying interest. 

Like yourself. I am not a builder of air castles, yet I am 
convinced of coffee raising here proving a profitable invest- 
ment. My jjosition here as buyer and manager for Messrs. 
Hard & Rand keeps me closely occupied and my every moment 
is devoted to their interests, yet if I had any assurance of my 
being here for the next five years I would not hesitate for one 



moment to invest in coflfee raising, which seems very safe to 
me, especially so long as this covintry is on a silver basis and 
one can raise their products on this basis and sell them for 
gold. 

As my name forcibly implies, I am a Southerner and com- 
menced my career with Messrs. Hard & Rand in my native 
city. New Orleans, where I was formerly connected with S. & 
Z. for twelve years in their coflfee department. I am pleased 
to be of service to you and will gladly serve you in any way I 
can. My sole interests are in Mexican coflfees and I wovild ap- 
l^reciate any efforts on your part to keep them moving for our 
different ofl&ces. Very truly yours, 

[Signed] S. JACKSON. 

[Note. — Copy of letter from Mr. Stonewall Jackson, buyer 
for Messrs. Hard & Rand, New York City, to Mr. Wm. Leitch, 
manager Hard & Rand's branch office, Kansas City, owner of 
a 50 acre tract of our land. Hard & Rand are the second 
largest importers in the United States.] 



Kansas City, June 11, 1895. 

Mexican Oulf Agricultural Company: 

Gentlemen : — For some time I have intended to write you 
in regard to my trip with party of investors to your coflfee lands 
on the Isthmvis last January. As a pleasure trip, it is the 
most novel and entertaining that I have ever had the pleasure 
of taking, far more so than the one to California. 

In regard to the Isthmus as a field for investment, I think 
your plan makes of it a splendid opportunity for any one. The 
way tropical products grow there makes it the most prolific 
spot the mind can conceive of. I am more than well pleased 
with my investment and only wish I could see my way clear to 
increase my holdings, which I hope to do at the earliest possi- 
ble moment. I feel confident that any one who will take the 
trouble to visit the plantation will return enthusiastic and 
thoroughly satisfied with their venture. 

Respectfully, 
[Signed] R. V. ANDERSON. 



Leavenworth, Kas., June 6, 1895. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Comjxiny : 

Gentlemen : — With regard to investing in Mexican coffee 
lands, will say that I consider the investment a good one, and, 
as yovi well know, purchased a fifty acre tract after returning 
from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The proposition your 
company makes I consider the best one I know of, and it is by 
far the safest. 

I never tire of talking about the pleasant trip I had with 
your party in Mexico, last January and February, and trust 
we will all meet there again next winter. For myself, I should 
like to spend every winter on my coffee ranch at "Dos Rios." 

Yours trvilv, 
[Signed] CHAS. S. STEVENS. 

Dos Rios, Dec. 20, 1895. 
M. H. Lewis, Manager Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company: 

Dear Sir : — About the first of last November I came to 
the Isthmus with vay family to occupy the land which I ob- 
tained from your company. My land is situated about half 
way between the movith of the Chalchijapa river and the 
town of "Dos Rios." Myself and family are much pleased 
with the location. Our house is about completed, and we are 
now occupying it. The coffee and other crops which I had 
the company plant for me before my arrival are in good condi- 
tion and looking well. We are j^leased with the Isthmus, and 
especially this part of it. The soil and the lay of the land 
here agree entirely with your Company's prospectus, which I 
saw liefore deciding to come to Mexico. From my observation 
during the comparatively short time that I have been here, I 
am convinced that the soil is very fertile and is especially 
adapted to coffee culture. The thrifty condition of the coffee 
plants in your nurseries, the strong growth of plants already 
set out in the lands which you are improving for those who 
have invested here, and the bloom now showing on the plants 
not more than two years old, at "Dos Rios," are good vouch- 
ers for your claim that these lands are coffee lands i^ar 
excellence. 

We are within five days of Christmas and we can hardly 
realize that this is winter, when the thermometer stands 
somewhere about 70 most of the time, and we feel sorry for 
our Iowa friends, who must now be shivering in their winter 
garments. 



Permit me to thank you for the many courtesies which 
we have received from you personally, and from Mr. Clemow, 
the superintendent, and from all the officers and employes of 
the CoiTijjany with whom we have come in contact. 
Respectfully, 

[Signed] F. W. MOORE. 



Kansas City, Mo., April 16, 1896. 
Mexican Gulf Agricultural Company : 

Gentlemen : — I have just returned from the coffee plan- 
tations at " Dos Rios," and having perused letters from other 
tract holders, feel that it is hardly necessary to do more than 
to say that I consider their statements fvilly justified by facts. 
Respectfully, 
[Signed] J. WITHAM NORTON. 



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BETWEEN 

THE CITY OF MEXICO 
AND VERA CRUZ 



f be IHexican Railway £o., CM. 



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Is the only standard gauge road, 

and is the Sccnic Ciiic Of Hortb flm 

CriC4 « « passing through Agave 
plantations, from which ^'Pulque" is 
extracted, close by the famous Aztec 
Pyramids and the majestic moun- 
tain, 'Tico de Orizaba/' The 
mountain scenery is wonderful and 
enchanting — nothing in Switzer- 
land or the Rockies equals it. 
For descriptive literature, address, 

W. G. WALTER, 

Supt. of Traffic, 
CITY OF MEXICO, MEXICO. 



The 

Mexican Central 

RAILWAY 

Requests Your Attention for a Moment. 



When you go sight seeing, go where there are sights to see. Mines, 
mountains, monkeys, macaws and manati; cascades, catacombs, castles, caves, 
canons, cotton, cane, coftee, and cactus (all kinds). 

Look at the clouds from the top and so see the silver lining. You can do 
it from our trains; we go above them in places. 

Tropical forests and snow-clad volcanoe; are well worth looking at. 
Orange groves, rice fields, sugar plantations and coffee farms are well worth 
studying (if you want to make money). Anybody can raise corn, wheat and 
beans; that is why they are so cheap. Grow something that is worth some- 
thing when you have it raised. 

The Mexican Central Railway, with its 2,000 miles of track, taps the high- 
lands and the lowlands; it crosses the mountains and reaches the sea at Tam- 
pico. Every variety of land and climate is found tributary to it. It has the 
only Pullman Palace Buffet service in the Republic. Its Palace Sleeping 
Cars cross the border without change. It is standard gauge in everything. 

Tourist Excursion tickets to Mexico are on sale at all coupon ticket offices 
in ihe United States and Canada every day of the year, at greatly reduced 
rates, allowing nine months limit from date of issue with stop-over privileges 
within final limit, on going and returning south of the Rio Grande. 
For further information address, 
A. HOFFMAN, 

General Passenger Agent, City of Mexico. 
W. D. MURDOCK, 

Assistant General Passenger Agent, City of Mexico. 
M. H. KING, 

Assistant General Passenger Agent, Chicago, 111. 
C. E. MINER, 

General Traveling Passenger Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 
T. R. RYAN, - Commercial Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 
J. H. SNOW. 

Traveling Passenger Agent, Fort Worth, Tex. 
J. F. DONOHOE, - Commercial Agent, EI Paso, Tex. 
"W.C.CARSON, - Eastern Agent, New York City. 
A. V. TEMPLE, 

Manager Bureau Information, City of Mexico. 




ZSLSJLSLSiSiSi ol 
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C 



he only Standard fiaufle cme 

between the Unltea States and 



g Principal Cities In IHexIco. ^ ^ tt 

£^ Only Ciltt rnnning Pnllman Palace 

S Buffet Sleeping Cars between the mm 

gg States and City of Ittexico without change at 

u3 the border. «««« « « ««« )°2 






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'W7 E advise persons going to 

MEXICO 



TO TAKE THE 



Santa Fe ^ 
^ ^ Route 






VIA 

EL PASO. 

Comfortable Service is assured. Pullman 
Palace Sleepers Chicago and Kansas City to 
City of Mexico. -J^ ^ -J* 

The Picturesque Scenery of Colorado, New- 
Mexico and Old Mexico is a noted feature of 
this Route. ^ ^ J^ 

The Santa Fe is the shortes t line from prin- 
cipal Eastern cities. 

■J*. ^* S 

For descriptive literature, ticket rates, etc., 
address G. T. Nicholson, G. P. A., A. T. & 
S. F. Ry., Chicago. 






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BINDERY INC. 

^ SEP 84 

\»viiJ^ N. MANCHESTER, 
^5S^ INDIANA 46962 



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